To Tattle Or Not To Tattle
by browneyedchic
Summary: Characters from "More Than We Could Ever Wish For" Short fluffy one shot with Sam, Jessica, Chris, and Jamie. Warning: Will contain spanking of a child.


**Author's note: **For this story, I used the same characters as "More Than We Could Ever Wish For". This is just a short little one shot, but I hope you guys enjoy.

"Give it back!"

"No!"

"Jamie it's mine. Not give it to me!"

"Mommy says you have to share!"

Sam and Jessica sat on the couch, sipping their coffee in a certain level of peace. Jessica had her legs crossed over Sam's lap as she read a magazine, while Sam was content to read the Saturday paper. As the bickering continued, their level of patience began to waver.

"I don't have to share if I don't want to!"

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"No I don't!" The voices began to escalate rather quickly.

"Chris? James? Is everything okay?" Sam asked as he smiled at his wife. Jessica rolled her eyes and laughed.

Jamie wasn't going to say anything. He knew that his parents would make him give back the gameboy, because it wasn't his and he hadn't asked. Chris wanted to get his gameboy back without being accused of tattling.

"We're fine, Dad." Chris was the one to answer as he glared at his younger brother.

And the house fell silent for 48 seconds.

"I want it back now!"

"NO!"

"Give it back!" Chris yelled. The demand was quickly followed by a loud thump and then deafening wailing.

"Mommy!"

Sam and Jessica were up and in the kitchen in a matter of seconds. Jamie was leaning against the counter holding the back of his head. Chris stood in the middle of the kitchen, terrified, holding the gameboy.

Jessica rushed over to Jamie and picked up the small boy. She sat him on the counter and quickly surveyed him for any damage. There was a small cut on the back of his heard that was bleeding.

"Shh, baby, you're okay." Jessica quickly got a wash rag and wetted it. She returned to Jamie and held the wash cloth to the back of his head. "You're okay, sweetie." Jamie, less then appeased, continued to wail.

Sam looked to his eldest for answers. "Chris, what happened?" Sam walked over to the terrified boy.

"I don't know. He just fell backwards." Chris couldn't take his eyes off of his wailing brother.

Sam placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him away from the scene. He squatted down to be at the boy's level in spoke in the calmest voice he could muster. "Christopher, are you lying to me?"

Chris looked anywhere but at Sam. "I'm sorry, daddy." A few tears began to fall from the bright blue eyes.

Sam exhaled sharply. "Go to your room, buddy. I'll be there in a second."

"But, Dad…" Chris looked up even more terrified. Whether that fear came from his worry for his brother or his worry for his own self was both undetermined and irrelevant to Sam at the moment.

"Now, Chris!"

Chris took off at lightening speed towards his room.

Sam stood up and walked over to his youngest son, who was still crying pretty hard despite his mother's comforting words. "Is he okay?"

Jessica removed the rag from the back of his head and saw that the blood was mostly dry. She refolded the rag and pressed it back to his head. "Yeah I think so. I think it's just a pretty bad scratch."

Sam nodded and moved a few pieces of Jamie's hair out of his eyes. "Hey, you're okay, buddy."

"Daddy! It hurts!"

Sam smiled down at him. "I know it does, buddy. You're being really brave. Try to calm down though, okay?"

Jamie nodded a few times and the tears began to slow down. Jessica removed the rag again and saw that the bleeding had stopped. She showed Jamie the clean rag. "See, baby? You're all good."

"It hurts, mommy!"

"I'm sure it does, sweetie." She walked to the freezer and grabbed an ice pack and a popsicle. "Will a popsicle make it feel a little better?"

Jamie sniffled a few times more. "Maybe. Grape?"

"Of course! Can you put this on the back of your head for mommy?" Jamie nodded and took the ice pack handed to him. Jessica walked over to the cabinet above the sink and got out some children's Tylenol. She opened up another cabinet and got out a Spongebob cup and filled it with water.

"These will make the pain go all away. Okay?" Sam gently took the popsicle away so Jessica could help him take the medicine. Once the pills were swallowed, Jamie was handed back his popsicle.

"I'm going to go talk to Chris, okay?" Sam kissed Jamie on the head and then Jessica on the cheek.

"Hey, Sam?" Jessica called when Sam was halfway up the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"He's seven. Remember that."

Sam smiled. "Don't worry."

Sam climbed the rest of the stairs and walked the length of the hallway. He knocked lightly on the door before opening it. Chris was lying on his stomach, heaving up and down with sobs. His Batman pillow was tucked under his arms and head. It was almost certainly covered with tears by now.

Any anger Sam had felt earlier disappeared in an instant. He walked over and sat on the edge of the small bed. He rubbed gentle circles into his son's back. "Shh, calm down buddy."

"Is he okay? Did I kill him? I'm sorry, daddy." Chris mumbled into his pillow.

Sam smiled. "No buddy. You didn't kill him. He's fine. Come here." Sam gently lifted Chris up and on to his lap. He turned him sideways so he could still look at him.

"I didn't mean to. It was an accident." Chris continued to cry as he rested his head against Sam's chest.

"Didn't mean to do what?" Sam questioned gently.

"I didn't mean for him to get hurt. I was just trying to get my game back."

"Did you push him?"

Chris nodded quickly. "He just wouldn't listen to me. And I got so mad. Is he really okay?"

"He's got a little scratch on the back of his head and probably a bad headache, but he will be fine in a few hours. "

Chris slowly stopped crying. "I'm sorry Dad. Am I in trouble?"

"Buddy, you know you're not supposed to push anybody. You know that you're supposed to come get your mom or me if something is wrong."

"But you always tell us not to tattle." Chris pointed our reasonably.

Sam nodded in agreement. "That's right. But there is a difference between tattling and coming to us for help."

"I don't understand the difference."

"Okay, well think of it like this. If you are telling on Jamie just to get him in trouble, that's probably tattling. But if something is seriously wrong, or you think that whatever he is doing could get him or you hurt, that's when you come tell us. Or if you guys have a problem that you can't figure out on your own, you should tell us. And if you're not sure, come talk to us. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, sir"

Sam nodded. "So if this were to happen again, what would you do?"

"We should try to figure it out on our own first and if we can't, we should come get you or mommy."

"Good. And what should you not do?"

"Not push him?"

"That's right. Don't push, hit, kick, or hurt him any other way. Understand?"

Chris nodded again. Sam nodded and slipped Chris off his right knee so that he was standing in between his knees, facing his left knee. He bent him over and gently held him down with his left hand. With his right hand, he delivered seven hard slaps. Chris jumped and squeaked at the first slap, but stayed silent and still for the remaining six.

He stood him up again and turned him to face him. He placed a hand on either shoulder. "No more fighting, okay?"

'Okay daddy."

Sam reached up and wiped a tear from underneath Chris's right eye with his thumb. "Good. Love you son"

Chris smiled. "Love you too."

"One more thing. No gameboy for the rest of the weekend." Sam held out his hand with a grim smile.

Chris looked heart broken but he stepped around his father's knees and retrieved the toy off his nightstand. He walked back over to Sam and handed him the device.

"Thanks buddy." Sam sounded almost as sad as Chris looked. Sam reached out and smoothed a few pieces of Chris's hair and then kissed him on his head. "You wanna go see your brother?"

Chris looked up with a doubtful look. "Do you think he will be mad at me?"

Sam stood up and placed the game in his left hand. His right hand rested on Chris's right shoulder as they walked out of the bedroom and down the hall. "Maybe a little bit. But if you're lucky, he won't be able to stay mad at you any longer then I can.


End file.
